"The new figures confirm last year’s surprising but welcome news: we now have seen two straight years of greenhouse gas emissions decoupling from economic growth," says Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA). "Coming just a few months after the landmark COP21 agreement in Paris, this is yet another boost to the global fight against climate change."

Last year, industrial production was about the same as in 2007, for example, but electricity demand was 7% less, points out EIA. A transition to efficient lighting and HVAC has made the difference for the commercial and residential sectors.

Successful government policies are behind this positive change – standards that require efficient lighting and appliances.

Once carbon dioxide enters the atmosphere, it stays there for as much as 200 years. Emissions are up 60% since 1990, accumulating year after year.

If renewable energy doubles by 2030 – reaching 36% of the global energy mix – that will provide half the emissions cuts to keep temperature rise under 2°C, and energy efficiency can supply the other half, calculates the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

Doing this would also create over 24 million jobs and add 1.1% to world GDP, while saving up to $4.2 trillion a year on pollution that negatively affects human health and agriculture, says IRENA.

Under existing policies, the share of renewables is expected to reach only 21% by 2030. Another $290 billion a year would get us to 36%.

"Achieving a doubling is not only feasible, it is cheaper than not doing so," says Adnan Amin, Director General of IRENA.

You have probably heard that February was the hottest month ever, by far. At 1.35°C warmer than any other February, it shattered the previous record of 1.14°C in January, according to NASA. Parts of the Arctic were 16°C (29°F) above normal.

These figures are "stunning and completely unprecedented," says Stefan Rahmstorf of Germany’s Potsdam Institute of Climate Impact Research. "We are in a kind of climate emergency now."